Explanation: This view
from the winter station of Mars Exploration Rover
Spirit, looks across the rock strewn landscape of
Gusev
Crater.
The dark boulders and distant hills are characteristic of the region,
but the two light colored rocks in the foreground of
this cropped image are - like Spirit itself -
most probably strangers to the Red Planet, believed
to be ironmeteorites.
Informally named for sites in Antarctica
they have been dubbed "Zhong Shan" and "Allan Hills."
Zhong Shan is the Antarctic base of the People's Republic of China.
Allan Hills is the icy location where many Martian meteorites
have been found
on planet Earth, including the controversial
ALH84001,
suggested to contain evidence for fossilized Martian microbial life.